Hurricane Ian stole a Charlotte County woman's home. Now, a contractor is accused of stealing her money.
Deputies in the Economic Crimes Bureau at the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office arrested Joel Reed for misapplication of construction funds earlier this month.
Tucked away on Palm Island, off the coast of Placida, you'll find Barbara Walsh's family home. It's lovingly named "Unconscious Sedation." It's been in the family for 20-plus years. It's weathered plenty of storms. However, Hurricane Ian was unlike anything that came before it.
"Our house looked like if you imagine a fishbowl, little fishbowl with a fish in it. Our house looked like the top empty bowl of water with a little fish floating and furniture floating," Walsh described from her Iowa-based home.
She's a seasonal resident. In 2022, she came to see the damage to her piece of paradise. While she was taking it all in, she said it felt like fate struck.
"His contractor ran up to me at the house, and I must have looked like deer in the headlights that wanted to just fall on the ground," Walsh recalled. "He sold the company to me by saying, this gentleman is a three-time Afghanistan vet. In addition, he's a good Christian. He's got kids, go to church."
Coming from a military family and married to a veteran, Walsh wanted to work with Joel Reed's Freedom Builders of SWFL. With a broken home and hopeful heart, she signed a contract for over $400,000.
"We wrote two checks for $98,600 to that person," she said.
The third installment was due when Walsh picked out the kitchen cabinets. A year went by, and her home was still down to the studs. Inside, there were no working lights or insulation.
"I can't tell you, I got 8-10-12 calls, 'Get down here and look at these cabinets, blah, blah, blah, blah blah.'"
After so much time had gone by, Walsh confronted the man. He told her he didn't have the funds to complete the work, citing personal hardships.
Turns out, investigators report Reed took the nearly $200,000 he got, put it in the business account and then transferred it to his own. After she did a little bit of research, Walsh came to a stunning discovery.
"With us, he didn't even pull a commencement permit," she explained.
In addition, the whole reason she hired Reed — his claims of being a veteran who served three tours — was a lie. Reed's booking report shows he is not a veteran at all.
Bryan Oglesby with the Better Business Bureau calls Reed a storm chaser.
"They're unlicensed contractors. They're knocking on your door, and they're here to tell you a story. Then, usually they never come back and even do the job. If they do it, it's not a good job, and you can never find them to fix any problems," he explained.
Walsh is sharing her expensive lesson learned in hopes of warning others. The BBB has several things you can do to keep yourself from becoming a victim.
"Never feel pressured to do business on the spot. Take their information. Gather that. Go separately on the internet. Call the organizations and verify that information before you make a buying decision," Oglesby said.
"Now is the time, as consumers," Oglesby continued, "to reach out to those local contractors in your community, find your local electrician, your roofer, your plumber, vet them, straight them, look at good track records, put them on a list to call upon first. So, when a hurricane does come through, you have this list of vetted contractors. You've already done the homework, and you can call upon them and be proactive instead of being reactive."
The BBB website shows Freedom Builders of SWFL has an "F" rating, isn't accredited and has two complaints. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation reports Reed does have an active license. It expires at the end of this month.
"I wonder how many other people he's fleeced," Walsh questioned.
Most of her home is still bare, devoid of its former character and charm. A small bathroom upstairs, however, is like stepping back in time. The cabinets are together, shoes sit neatly in a row in the closet and the shower doors are perfect. It's a picture Walsh hopes she can see again when the whole house is finally finished.
"That's my family's house. I taught my little babies to swim in that tiny pool, and you just don't walk away from that. That is something that is meaningful," Walsh stated.
She is now starting from scratch with a new contractor, who has already pulled and posted the permit.
Reed bonded out of jail shortly after his arrest. He'll be back in court Sept. 9 for his arraignment.